How Molly Sims’s Personal Skincare Journey Led to the Creation of Award-Winning Brand, YSE Beauty

The SI Swimsuit legend launched her brand with six core products in April of 2023.

Molly Sims / Monica Schipper/Getty Images

Model-actress Molly Sims has suffered from cystic acne since she was in her mid-20s, and when she gave birth to her first child in 2012, uneven skin tone and dark spots became a regular struggle.

Sims turned to harsh lasers and peels that helped temporarily, but would leave her skin worse for wear in the long run. Following her ongoing personal skincare struggles (and three years of product development), the 51-year-old SI Swimsuit legend launched YSE Beauty in April of 2023.

“[YSE Beauty] is a brightening, core, essential line. It’s expert efficacy with radiant results,” Sims tells SI Swimsuit. “For someone like me, everything was either really harsh and really awful for your skin [and] there was no efficacy ... I don’t want to be spoken to like I’m in menopause ... and I feel like a lot of women feel that way. I think a lot of women feel that they’re somehow overlooked. That journey led me to YSE.”

When the brand launched a year and a half ago, YSE Beauty consisted of six core products, including a fan-favorite brightening treatment ($88) and the brand’s now best-selling gentle, yet effective exfoliating pads ($72). Today, that number has doubled, and the line consists of gentle, hydrating products formulated with ingredients like antioxidants, squalane and hyaluronic acid.

Consumer feedback has been an integral part of YSE Beauty’s success thus far. When her customers asked for an eye cream, Sims delivered with Wide Awake ($65), a lightweight formula that depuffs, hydrates and brightens the under-eye. Launched in March of this year, it’s now one of the brand’s best-sellers.

Molly Sims / Emma McIntyre/Getty Images

What she’s learned from being a beauty brand founder

When it comes to balancing her roles as an entrepreneur, wife, mother, model and producer, Sims relies heavily on her calendar to stay organized. She has also learned the value of being able to say “no.”

“I’ve gotten much more buttoned up about really keeping a calendar, investing in my friends, but more importantly, learning the word ‘no.’ Because [when] you say ‘no’ to something, then it’s ‘yes’ to something that you really do want to do ... I’m a people-pleaser, I’m from Kentucky, but I think COVID allowed me to take a step back and say ‘no’ ... I can’t be everything to everyone.”

The seven-time SI Swimsuit model has also learned the value of having a great team in her corner. Keeping up with demand has been another challenge, as a number of YSE Beauty products have sold out on more than one occasion. Naysayers who brushed YSE Beauty off as “just another celebrity skincare line” also lit a fire within Sims to succeed.

Molly Sims / Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

She has found plenty of reward being at the helm of YSE Beauty, and Sims believes that creating her brand from a problem-solving point of view is one of the many keys to her company’s success.

“I do think my secret sauce is my cocktails [and my] less is more [approach] but with really good ingredients,” Sims says. “ I think having a [skin] problem maybe not helped me in a weird way, but I’m on this journey for me, as well.”

As for her advice to aspiring female founders? Sims says don’t take no for an answer.

“Try, even if you have to fake it until you make it to get in that door and keep pushing it open,” Sims offers. “I think timing is everything. Being in the right place at the right time, working hard and a little bit of luck will get you a long way. But most importantly, being passionate. If you’re gonna start something, you have to believe in it more than anyone else.”

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